"THE PLAYLIST" VOL. 1 :: 10 Songs You Need To Listen to Right Now

Because our London correspondent Tom Winslade (@winslade) is a man of impeccably fire taste, “THE PLAYLIST” is a new series where he’ll be sharing 10 eclectic song choices that we all need to be listening to right now-right now. Get your Sunday ears ready.

U Mad (Ft. Kanye West) – Vic Mensa

I already decided ‘U Mad’ was going to be an anthem from the moment Vic first previewed the track at Ye’s “secret” London show last month. Finally, the music gods have blessed us with the CDQ and it lives up to the natural hype that has come to be expected from anything that Kanye has touched. Ironically, I don’t think it’s either MC’s finest lyrical performance, but it doesn’t really matter when the beat breaks your neck. Chicago is well represented on this one.

Norway’s Lido and French-beatsmith Canblaster come together on their new collaborative effort, Superspeed EP. I’m going put myself out there and say that it’s my favourite export from either producer to date, with stand-out track “Rush Hour” being the personal favourite. Sugary synths, razor-sharp percussion and finessed keys take this track from a cruising anthem to a dark, basement-club head-bopper, and back again. Or where ever else your imagination may take you.

One for the punk rock kids, Britain’s homegrown hero Frank Carter is back with his latest project; Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes. Most familiar for his time as a founding member and vocalist of Watford’s Gallows, and more recently with straight-up Rock outfit, Pure Love, Frank is back to his roots (and arguably his best) on new track, “Fangs.” Expect this new incarnation to explode pretty rapidly. Best listened to whilst circle-pitting around your coffee table and shotting vodka.

I’ve been a fan of Black Atlass since last year’s Young Bloods EP, notably after seeing the eerie video for “Jewels,” which was directed by Yoann Lemoine, better known as Woodkid. Black Atlass’ latest project Jade surfaced this month and I’ve pretty much fallen in love all over again. Tough to pick a favourite track, but ‘Blonde’ stood out to me, with the lyrical nod to Beyonce’s “’03 Bonnie & Clyde.” Cue up this one for when the girl who was way too hot to be using Tinder in the first place has accidentally ended up back at your apartment.

This track has summer written all over it. God damn. I first heard of Towkio on his previous Soundcloud delight, “Involved,” featuring fellow Chi-city kid, Vic Mensa. This time, he’s joined by another one of Chicago’s rising stars, Chance The Rapper. The whole vibe is so fucking fire I can’t even put it into words without breaking into a sweat. Lido comes through and murders the production too. Imma shut up. Just listen to it.

2015 is such an exciting year to be a hip-hop fan, with all the biggest names in the genre dropping projects left, right and center — as well as the new generation continuing the assault. Allan Kingdom caught my attention with 2014’s Future Memoirs, and again more recently with his performance on a little-known song called “All Day.” This is his first track since helping Ye & Co. shut down the Brit Awards earlier this year, and I’m very hyped to see where Mr. Kingdom goes from here.

Diamond Youth stay on my shortlist of “bands that can do no wrong” after listening to the lead single from their new album, Nothing Matters — which is set to release next month. Blending together their signature balance of punk, pop, and sun-drenched surf-vibes; I’m expecting nothing less than greatness after hearing this new jam. If you haven’t already listened to Shake EP, introduce yourself to it ahead of this upcoming release.

From what I heard on my side of the pond, Kehlani had people talking at this year’s SXSW, and I’m not surprised after checking out her last few tracks via the miracle that is the Internet. Although not her latest offering, this joint featuring BJ The Chicago Kid is my favourite to date. Kehlani’s music is straight-up R&B, and it fills a void that I think has been growing steadily during recent years. This Bay Area native’s debut project You Should Be Here releases later next month, so stay woke.

EarthGang are a new discovery for me, following on from a recommendation by Lily Mercer during her recent feature on Seriousss. I tracked back and checked out their latest mixtape Torba and I was gutted I hadn’t been locked into the Atlanta crew earlier. Anyway, shouts to Lily for helping me fix this oversight and double shouts to the new UK brainchild Seriousss for giving her the platform to do so.

Rounding off my first playlist instalment is this fresh take on Tinashe’s “All Hands On Deck” by San Fran’s Giraffage. I first spilled about my crush on Tinashe during last year’s “Most Important Album Releases“ run down, and I haven’t really chilled out about it since then. Especially following the release of the music video for original mix of this track. Anyway, Giraffage kinda kills it on the remix. You’ll probably hear this one in the club, unless you frequent lame establishments.